Da geht was ab im Morgenland

Da geht was ab im Morgenland Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

110 cards:
- 15 Treasury cards (5 Insignia, 10 Treasures)
- 82 Night cards (42 Attack cards, 40 Defence cards)
- 12 Day cards
- 1 V.A.G.U.W.A.M. card
Rules sheet

In addition, you'll need a six-sided die.

Setup

The cards are seperated into Insignia, Treasures, Night and Day cards. The Day cards are put aside; we won't need them before the end of the Night Phase (see below).

After that, a dealer for the current Round (one Night and one Day Phase) is chosen. He will shuffle the different stacks and deal out cards according to the following plan:

Number of players	Treasury cards per player
2 players	2 Insignia / 3 Treasures
3 players	1 Insignia / 3 Treasures
4 players	1 Insignia / 2 Treasures
5 players	1 Insignia / 2 Treasures

Remaining Insignia and Treasure cards are put aside and will not be needed for the rest of the game.

Each player takes a look at his Treasury cards and puts them in a row onto the table in front of himself, face down, but in a way that all the cards can be seen by all the other players. Once put down, Treasury cards may only be taken up one at a time.

The Night cards are seperated into Attack (Sword symbol) and Defence (Shield Symbol) cards. Both stacks are shuffled and placed face down on the table. Every player can draw cards from both stacks to fill his hand, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. When playing with 2 or 3 players, each may hold 6 cards in his hand; with 4 or 5 players the limit is 5 cards.

The Game

Each of the 2-5 players takes the role of a Grand Vizier who tries to gather all the Insignia in the game for himself, so he will be crowned as the new Sultan. At night the players send out their followers and allies to rob the valuables from other players' Treasuries; at the same time they try to protect their own Treasuries from robbers. However, during the day, the robberies stop (as was determined in the late Sultan's last will), and the players can indulge in the city's pulsing life while, with a little bit of luck, they can improve their chances for next night's shenanigans by bribing or trading with the right people.

The Night Phase

A. THE NIGHT PHASE

The player to the left of the dealer begins the game. During his turn, he can...

play Attacks against any number of fellow players
flip one of his Treasure cards
rearrange his Treasury cards
do nothing, discard as many cards from his hand as he wishes and draw new ones

ACTION 1: Playing Attacks

For this action you use the Night cards (especially the Attack cards) which depict persons, groups or creatures.

These are the allies a player sends out to steal one of the Treasury cards of another player.

Each of these Night cards looks similar: At the top, you can see who or what is shown on the card, in the middle is a nice colourful picture, and below that there is a short sentence to describe the card. To the left as well as to the right of the picture you find three different Scores you will need for this action:

an Attack Score – symbolized by a sword
a Defence Score – symbolized by a shield
a Key Score – symbolized by a key

Attacking and defending

The attacker chooses one of his Night cards and puts it, face up, right in front of another player's Treasury card; he can decide freely which one to attack. The decisive factor for an attack is of course the Attack Score of the Night card; the higher it is, the bigger the chances are for a successful attack.

The player whose Treasury is under attack may now defend himself by playing his own Night cards. His defence is succesful if he can play one or more Night cards whose Defence Scores, added together, are at least equal to the attacker's Attack Score. That is to say, while defending, you may play as many cards as you like whose Defence Scores are the added together; however, you may NOT do that for an attack!

Please note: you can also use Defence cards for an attack or Attack cards for a defence – it's not very efficient, but may help you in the game nonetheless.

After figuring out the result of the attack all cards used in it are discarded.

The Key Score:

If an Attack has suceeded or if the defender can't or won't defend himself the robber only has to open the door to the Treasury to get to the Treasure inside.

For this purpose he takes the die and tries to roll equal to or less than the Key Score of his Night card. If he succeeds he may take the robbed Treasury card and look at it. Then he must put it onto the table beside his own Treasury cards. The card has to remain face up or face down, just like it was in the other player's Treasury.

A player can make as many attacks against as many different players as he wishes, if he has the right cards.

Aladdin, the "Fliegender Löwe" [Flying Lion] and the "Vogel Rock" [Roc Bird]

These cards cannot be warded off by normal defenders, but only by Wache mit Bogen [Guard with Bow] cards. However, this succeeds automatically, without having to look at any Scores.

ACTION 2: Flipping a Treasury card

Instead of attacking someone, a player may also disclose one of his own Treasures; then (and only then) he can use the positive effect noted on that Treasure.

Unfortunately, that also makes it easier for the other players to spot the hidden Insignia which are after all, the target of everyone's ambitions. Treasures which are lying face up can be attacked like any other Treasury card.

The "Flaschengeist" [Djinni in a bottle] and the "Wein" [Wine]

These two Treasures have a negative effect. However, this effect is activated only after the card has been robbed by another player. The player who took these cards by chance (I guess nobody in his right mind would rob them deliberately) must disclose the card at once and follow the instructions written on it. If this has happened, he may flip them face down again.

ACTION 3: Rearranging Treasury cards

During your turn, you can take up all your Treasury cards and put them down again in any order you like. If you wish, you may also flip any cards which are lying face up face down again.

ACTION 4: Do nothing, discard and draw new cards

Instead of performing one of the actions explained above you can also forfeit any action, discard as many hand cards as you wish and draw new cards from any of the Night card stacks.

The end of your turn

Whatever action you performed, your turn always ends by drawing new cards onto your hand, up to the limit mentioned above. After that it's the next player's turn.

Special cards

The Ereignis [Event] cards depict Djinns or magical items which can work magic for a player. If there isn't anything else mentioned on the card they can only be played during your own turn. Playing them doesn't count as an Action.
Dinarsad and Schehersad are also among the Night cards. Whenever a player draws one of them from a stack he must disclose them at once and put next to his Treasury cards. The young lady pays a visit to the Grand Vizier in question, and he has to entertain her for the rest of the night. This hampers him in all turns from now on: the limit of cards he may hold in his hand is reduced by one.
Scheherbans Geist [Scheherban's Ghost] is also among the Night cards. Whenever a player draws the card from the stack, it must be disclosed at once, but the player may draw a new card from any stack before the following effect takes place. The late monarch wants to make matters a little more exciting and forces all Insignia to appear from their Treasuries. Any player who has one or more Insignia among his Treasury cards must disclose these cards at once. Only by applying Action 3 (see above) can they be turned face down again.
The V.A.G.U.W.A.M. (what that means is described in the preface) is given to the dealer at the beginning of the game. During the night he wanders from Grand Vizier to Grand Vizier to see whether one of them already owns all the Insignia. Any player rolls a die at the beginning of his turn before he performs any other action. When the result is 1 or 2 the V.A.G.U.W.A.M. stays where he is, if it's 3 or 4 he wanders to the next player, if it's 5 or 6 he wanders to the next but one player. During the Day Phase, only the player who hosts the V.A.G.U.W.A.M. at the end of the Night Phase will earn the bonus for this card (see below).

The end of the night

When the last card from both stacks is drawn the sun rises which also means that the night is at an end. Now the Day Phase of the game is about to begin.

The Day Phase

B. THE DAY PHASE

At the beginning of the Day Phase every player determines his Assets. These consist of his Treasury cards, but also of some important people in his surroundings:

Every Treasury card grants a bonus of +1 for a die roll. Schehersad, Dinarsad and the V.A.G.U.W.A.M. each grant a bonus of +2 (also see below: Bazar).

The current dealer shuffles the Day cards und discloses the first one. The depicted Occurrence takes place and is resolved, as described below.

After resolving one card the next one will be disclosed. During the course of one Day Phase, exactly 4 Day cards are disclosed (one each for Morning, Noon, Afternoon and Evening).

The Day cards:

Sandsturm [Sand storm]: A sand storm rages over the city, forcing everybody inside. Therefore, nothing happens.
Bazar: An item is up for sale down at the city's bazar. The players make bids for the item by putting forth cards which they want to use for their bonus value. A bid can always be raised until every player is satisfied with the result. After that every player rolls the die once and adds the bonus points he gets for the cards he used as a bid (of course you can also try to get the item without bidding but your chances will probably be rather small).

The player who got the highest result gets the item and puts it face up next to his Treasury cards. His used bonus cards are put aside (of course, the Treasury cards remain with him, but their bonus value for this Day Phase is used up and may not be used again).

The other players are allowed to take their bid (that is to say, their cards) back onto their hand and use their bonus value at a later time.

If two or more players have the same result an unknown stranger offered more than they did and got the prize. Both get their cards back.

The items from the Bazar can only be used during the next night, but they can be robbed just like any other Treasury.
Sklavenstreik [Slave Strike]: The slaves are on strike. During the next night the Sklave [Slave] cards may not be used. This card remains on the table as a reminder for the players.
Prinzen-Besuch [Visiting Prince]: A Prince pays a visit to the town. For his safety, all the Wache mit Bogen [Guard with Bow] cards are to report at his palace. During the next night the Wache mit Bogen cards may not be used. This card remains on the table as a reminder for the players.

PLEASE NOTE!

The following rule is in effect for the Occurrences Sklavenstreik [Slave Strike], Prinzen-Besuch [Visiting Prince] and Hinrichtung [Execution]: if a player has any cards on his hand which due to these Occurrences cannot be used during the current Night Phase he can only get rid off them by performing Action 4 (discarding them and drawing new cards).

Gerichtstag [Judgement Day]: The judge is in town. Every player can accuse another player of having stolen a certain Treasure or Insignia from him. The accusing player must name the Treasure or Insignia in question.

It is not necessary to prove that the item really once belonged to the accusant; the judge will decide upon that (you understand, don't you? Wink, wink...). Every player can make only one accusation during any given day.

If the defendant doesn't possess the named Treasure or Insignia the case is dropped by the judge.

If he owns the item in question he must disclose it. Now both players can bribe the judge by using bonus cards (just like at the Bazar), the accusing player playing the first bribe. After that the die is rolled.

Whoever achieves the highest result gets the Treasury card in question. If both results are equal, roll again. Whatever the result, ALL the bonus cards used as bribes are used up and put aside.

Treasury cards gained in this manner can be used for their bonus value later in the day.

After all four Occurrences of this Day phase have been resolved, all the Attack and Defence cards (including Dinarsad, Schehersad and Scheherbans Geist) are shuffled by the next dealer.

Every player places his Treasury cards in a row before himself and draws cards from the stacks to his hand up to the limit.

After that, the next Night Phase starts.

End of the Game

This cycle of Day and Night goes on and on, until one of the Grand Viziers has gathered all the Insignia in his Treasuries. Exception: With 5 players, 4 Insignia are sufficient.

Now he must wait until the wandering V.A.G.U.W.A.M. appears at his place. If he does, the player discloses all his Insignia, and the V.A.G.U.W.A.M. will crown the player the next Sultan.

A Little Wink by Krimsu

Yeah, I admit that there is a lot of stuff going on in my version of the Orient. So, my advice would be to test all that stuff, and then put together your own little game, using whatever you liked best. For example, some cards like the V.A.G.U.W.A.M. or even Scheherbans Geist might be left out of the game.

Bottom line is, it's your game now, have fun with it! But as always we would appreciate any sort of comment.

The designer's signature, date, playtester thanks, special thanks and copyright notice that follow this note in the printed rules are credits and are not transcribed here.